Montfaucon 18th cen. Engraving Greek Wrestlers or Luttuers

A wonderful 18th Engraving by Bernard de Montfaucon (1655-1741), a French monk, established his reputation as a first-rate classical scholar with the publication of an important edition of the writing of St. Athanasius (1698) and his Paleographica graeca (1708), a catalog of Greek manuscripts.

Montfaucon then turned his attention to ancient Egyptian, Greek, Etruscan, Roman, and Gallic art and artifacts. The result was his 15 volume work, L'Antiquite expliquee et representee en figures, a pictorial encyclopedia of the gods, heroes, religious customs, architecture, military practices, domestic habits and funerary rites of the ancient world. It is a truly staggering and fascinating production that remained the unrivaled source book for the art of the ancient world for scholars and artists well into the 19th century. Montfaucon is considered to be one of the founders of modern technology.

This engraving is from the 1722-24 massive work, or possibly from the supplement which was published in 1757. High quality engraved on handmade chain-linked paper.